Hair curler rotating device



1958 c. w. TRACY ET AL 3,413,934

HAIR CURLER ROTATING DEVICE Filed June 18, 1965 INVENTORJ t/MHZJ W 777/16) 3% IWW/Vi fl- 6714/75) 131M714 M/l/ad hq ATTORNEYJ United States Patent Office 3,413,984 HAIR CURLER ROTATING DEVICE Charles W. Tracy and Wayne H. Coloney, Tallahassee, Fla., assignors of thirty-three and one-third percent to Julian V. Smith, Tallahassee, Fla.

Filed June 18, 1965, Ser. No. 465,066 3 Claims. (Cl. 132-34) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for curling hair including a housing having a drive shaft projecting therefrom and head means mounted on the shaft. The head means includes spaced tines engageable directly with the hair for curling the hair in a tight curl or receivable within a hair roller for turning the roller and curling the hair in a loose curl.

This invention relates to the preparation and treatment including the grooming of a person especially the dressing of the hair to enhance the appearance and to characterize and individualize the coiffure of the person to which it is applied.

The invention relates particularly to a device for curling or waving hair by imparting rotational movement to a roller or the like to wind a tress or span of hair thereon and eliminating the necessity of having to rotate such curlers by hand or the rolling of the hair around the finger.

In the grooming of a persons hair, it has been customary to roll a tress or a plurality of strands of hair on a roller and apply a moistening agent to the hair and allow it to remain in such rolled condition until it has dried and set. After the hair has set, the rollers are removed leaving the hair in a curled or waved condition. In the dressing of the hair, an unskilled person has had difliculty in performing the rolling operation which affects the final appearance, and it has been difficult to obtain the desired results.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, relatively inexpensive device for selectively rotating a hair roller in either direction, thereby enabling the curling or waving operation to be done by an unskilled person with a minimum of effort and in a minimum amount of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for rotating a hair roller which can be applied to the hair of an operator or can be used by an operator on the hair of another person.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hair roller rotating device which can be operated manually or electrically either from a source of supply incorporated at a distance or in the body of the device.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating one application .of the invention;

FIG. 2, an enlarged exploded perspective of the rotating tool and a hair roller of the type to be rotated by the same;

FIG. 3, an enlarged longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4, a fragmentary perspective of a modified form of rotating tool.

Briefly stated the invention includes an elongated housing or sleeve which forms a hollow handle in which is mounted a reversible motor having readily accessible operating switches located on the side of the handle by which such motor can be selectively energized from a source of electrical energy. The motor drives a shaft having a tuning 3,413,984 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 fork resembling head on one end, such head including spaced tines received within a conventional hair roller so that when the motor is operated, the head will rotate the roller in a selected direction.

With continued reference to the drawing, the device of the present invention includes a handle forming housing 10 in which is mounted a conventional reversible electric motor 11 connected to a source of electrical energy by a conductor 12. The motor 11 has a shaft 13 which drives a gear reduction 14 through a friction clutch or friction drive member 15. Although the motor 11 has been illustrated as being connected to a source of electrical energy by the conductor 12, it is contemplated that such motor could receive electrical energy from a. self-contained rechargeable battery, or the like, carried within the housing 10.

The motor 11 is adapted to be operated in either direction by switches 16 and 17 mounted on the housing 10. The gear reduction 14 has a shaft 18 journaled in a bearing 19 in the end of the housing 10. A tuning fork resembling head 20 is mounted on the free end of the shaft 18 and such head includes a central shaft 21 terminating in a generally U-shaped portion including a pair of spaced tines 22. If desired a tress of hair can be brought into contact with the tines 22 and the motor operated to rotate the tines in a desired direction so that the hair will be wound onto the tines. After the tress has been wound, it may be held in position by the operator so that the head 20 can be extracted and thereafter the tress can be secured in place by hairpins or the like to form a relatively tight curl.

If desired a conventional roller or sleeve 23 may be provided about which a tress of hair can be wound and such roller may be of varying diameters for producing waves of varying degrees of curl, The roller may have perforations 24 around its entire diameter and a brush 25 may be disposed within the roller and have bristles 26 projecting outwardly through the perforations 24 to engage the hair and assist in retaining the hair on the roller. Certain rollers may be provided with inwardly extending lugs or a cross member 27 to be engaged by the tines 22 so that the roller can be rotated.

As illustrated in FIG. 4 a head 28 is provided having tines 29 constructed of resilient material and normally disposed on an are large enough to accommodate the internal diameter of most rollers and being of sufficient resiliency that they can be collapsed against the inner periphery of smaller rollers so that the tines will be connected to the roller by friction alone.

It will be apparent that the frictional drive member 15 must be relatively weak so that when the roller has rolled the hair substantially to the scalp the drive member will slip rather than pull the hair from the head. In the modification shown in FIG. 4, when the roller has rolled the hair, the tines can slip within the roller to prevent pulling the hair.

In the operation of the device a tress of hair may be separated from the main body of hair and a portion of such tress can be placed on such roller, and thereafter the tines may be inserted within the roller and the motor operated in a selected direction to cause the roller to rotate and to wind the tress of hair thereon. When the tress has been wound a desired distance, the motor 11 is stopped and the tines are removed from the roller after which the roller is secured in place in any desired manner.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for curling hair comprising a handle forming housing, a reversible motor carried within said housing, means for driving said motor, switch means for selectively controlling the direction of rotation of said motor, a friction drive member driven by said motor, gearing connected to said friction drive member and having an output shaft journaled in said housing, head means mounted on the free end of said output shaft, said head means including spaced tines engageable directly about a tress of hair or receivable within an engageable with a hair roller for turning the roller, whereby the hair can be curled in either direction, with or without a roller.

2. Apparatus for curling hair comprising a handle forming housing, motor means located within said housing, a rotatable friction drive means carried by said housing and driven by said motor means, means for selectively reversing the direction of rotation of said friction drive means, an output shaft extending outwardly of said housing and adapted to be driven by said friction drive means,

head means mounted on said output shaft, and said head means including a pair of spaced tines engageable about a tress of hair to form a tight curl or engageable with a hair roller in a manner to rotate the same and form a loose curl, whereby said tines are rotable in a selected direction to curl a tress of hair in either a tight curl or a less tight curl.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said tines are generally parallel with each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,564,628 8/1951 Saucier 13234 2,573,456 10/1951 Kutzler et a1. 132-34 2,924,225 2/1960 Freeman 132-34 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

G. E. MCNEILL, Assistant Examiner. 

